Good morning everyone! I pray that you had a wonderful week-end. We had a very busy day yesterday, but one full of blessings.
113 people attended the worship service. The ladies choir sang and did a great job. We had a man visit for the first time and others return for their 2nd or 3rd visit.
In the afternoon 16 men plus Teddy went to the property and worked. They worked really hard and did a great job. While the men were working at the property, the Ladies had a Baby Shower at the church for Melanea. We had 28 ladies attend and had a great time of fun and fellowship. I have posted some pictures below be sure to check them out. Also below them are pictures from our Ladies Day last week. I hope you enjoy them!
I have a very special prayer request for you this week. As you know we have requested prayer many times for Zonia, a dear lady in our church who as been battling cancer for a long time. She is now at the point of just having days to live. Please continue to keep her in your prayers, but just not her, also her family. Melanea is her daughter. If you can imagine the highs and lows she is facing at this time. One side there is filled with incredible joy as the birth of her first baby is very soon... yet on the other hand there is extreme sadness as her precious mother is dying. We know that God is in control and that he loves each one of us very much...more than we can even imagine. What a blessing to know that he has only the best in mind for Zonia and for Melanea even though we can't always see that. Please pray that Melanea and her sister Dina will be comforted during this time. Pray that Zonia will be comforted and that her pain will be eased.
Pray for Tony and I as we minister to this dear family during the next week, and also prepare for our trip to the US for our daughter's wedding.
Joy
Monday, December 8, 2008
Pictures from the Baby Shower...
These pictures were taken last night at the Baby Shower we had for Melanea. 28 ladies came. We had a great time of fun and fellowship. Please be praying for Melanea. This is such a joyous time for her and Luis, yet at the same time her mother dying of cancer and only has a matter of days. We know that God is in control and that he will provide the comfort that she needs, but I ask you to especially be remembering this sweet young woman in your prayers during the next days and weeks.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I trust that each one of you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with Family and Friends. We had a great time here at our house. We enjoyed having Stacey Smith visit us from Tuesday-Friday and Joe and Sylvia Wells arrived Thursday about 11:30 and just left this afternoon.
Yesterday was our special Ladies day here at the church. Because where we meet right now, doesn't have a space big enough to host something like this now, we were able to have it in a local restaurant. Our theme this year was "The gifts of Christmas" and we started at 10:00 and went until 3:00.
The morning started out with a couple games, (a word search and a word scramble) and moved on to our speaker who was Sylvia Wells this year. We enjoyed a short time of refreshments in between our lessons, and then we had Ladies choir that sang some Christmas carols with some verses in between. They have been practicing for about 8 weeks after our Friday Bible Study and really enjoyed it. They did a great job!
After the choir we had another game time...3 groups had to "dress up" someone like a snowman using 2 rolls of toilet paper, a piece of black poster board, tape and scissors. Then there were another 3 groups that had to "dress up" someone like a Christmas tree. They were given a pack of green crepe paper, a few sheets of colored paper, scissors and tape. Everyone was so creative and it was so funny.
After the game, we had lunch, then a demonstration of a simple floral arrangement, and after that, we had a craft time. We ended the day, with a few door prizes, and "thank you" gifts for some special ladies. It was a wonderful day, and such a blessing to have people who shared the work load with me!
This morning we had a great service. There were over 80 in the Sunday School hour and 98 for the worship service. The young people lead the music and did a great job. Joe Wells preached this morning. We had a family visit for the first time. The husband talked to Tony after church and indicated that he had accepted Christ recently. Another lady talked to us about being baptized.
This evening we met with about 20 people who are going to be working to put together our Children's Christmas party on Dec. 19. It is so neat to have a great group of people willing to share the work load and everyone seems really excited about the plans we are putting into action.
This week, I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry Team to "debrief" about our day Saturday...and make a few plans for the future.
Thank you for praying for our family and for our ministry here in Manta. Please be praying for our kids as they travel back to their homes in the US. Lexi and her fiancee Jonathan will be traveling back to Kansas from Springfield, Mo. where they enjoyed Thanksgiving with Ashley and Shane. Mandie, Mike and Ioan will be traveling back to their home in Ohio from VA. where they enjoyed Thanksgiving with Mike's family.
Please continue to pray for the building program here in Manta...work continues to move forward. We are excited to see how God is providing our needs in this area.
God Bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Yesterday was our special Ladies day here at the church. Because where we meet right now, doesn't have a space big enough to host something like this now, we were able to have it in a local restaurant. Our theme this year was "The gifts of Christmas" and we started at 10:00 and went until 3:00.
The morning started out with a couple games, (a word search and a word scramble) and moved on to our speaker who was Sylvia Wells this year. We enjoyed a short time of refreshments in between our lessons, and then we had Ladies choir that sang some Christmas carols with some verses in between. They have been practicing for about 8 weeks after our Friday Bible Study and really enjoyed it. They did a great job!
After the choir we had another game time...3 groups had to "dress up" someone like a snowman using 2 rolls of toilet paper, a piece of black poster board, tape and scissors. Then there were another 3 groups that had to "dress up" someone like a Christmas tree. They were given a pack of green crepe paper, a few sheets of colored paper, scissors and tape. Everyone was so creative and it was so funny.
After the game, we had lunch, then a demonstration of a simple floral arrangement, and after that, we had a craft time. We ended the day, with a few door prizes, and "thank you" gifts for some special ladies. It was a wonderful day, and such a blessing to have people who shared the work load with me!
This morning we had a great service. There were over 80 in the Sunday School hour and 98 for the worship service. The young people lead the music and did a great job. Joe Wells preached this morning. We had a family visit for the first time. The husband talked to Tony after church and indicated that he had accepted Christ recently. Another lady talked to us about being baptized.
This evening we met with about 20 people who are going to be working to put together our Children's Christmas party on Dec. 19. It is so neat to have a great group of people willing to share the work load and everyone seems really excited about the plans we are putting into action.
This week, I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry Team to "debrief" about our day Saturday...and make a few plans for the future.
Thank you for praying for our family and for our ministry here in Manta. Please be praying for our kids as they travel back to their homes in the US. Lexi and her fiancee Jonathan will be traveling back to Kansas from Springfield, Mo. where they enjoyed Thanksgiving with Ashley and Shane. Mandie, Mike and Ioan will be traveling back to their home in Ohio from VA. where they enjoyed Thanksgiving with Mike's family.
Please continue to pray for the building program here in Manta...work continues to move forward. We are excited to see how God is providing our needs in this area.
God Bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thanksgiving is coming!
Since last I posted, I celebrated my birthday...it was very nice. 26 ladies from the church, came to the house and "surprised" me with a party. It was very nice. A special treat was that Zonia came too! That was an extra special blessing to me. We had a great time singing and and visiting together.
We have made progress on the building...well, the big machines have showed up and started leveling things...we had a surveyor come and start his work. Next we need to get some fill added, but things are moving along. We need to have something that we can meet in, by the end of June, as our lease at our present apartment is up and the owner has told us that he will want the house back.
Last Friday was our last Ladies Bible Study in the series were were doing. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and talked about what a blessing the time had been to them. The ladies are now working on preparations for our "Ladies Day" the 29th. Please be praying with us as we work on the final plans. We have about 60 ladies signed up to attend. Please pray that those who have committed to come will follow through.
Sunday we had 87 in church. That was down from the week before, but many people were sick or out of town. Please pray for the growth and faithfulness of these new Christians.
We are getting excited here in the Anzalone house about Thanksgiving. I have to say that it is one of our favorite holidays. We have decorated the house. Bought all the "extra" goodies to cook and bake the traditional feast. We are cleaning out and sprucing up the house for company. In the middle of all this "busyness" we are taking some extra time to talk about what the holiday means, and think of things that we are thankful for. This year, we added a paper turkey to the door between our kitchen and dining room and are adding "thankful feathers" to it. We have even enlisted our daughters and son-in-laws in the the US to participate with us, by sending us things they are thankful for so we can add feathers for them. Teddy is getting into the whole thing!
I pray that you have a wonderful holiday, whether you are near or far away from your family...may you find many reasons to count your blessings and give thanks to the Lord!
God bless you!
Joy
We have made progress on the building...well, the big machines have showed up and started leveling things...we had a surveyor come and start his work. Next we need to get some fill added, but things are moving along. We need to have something that we can meet in, by the end of June, as our lease at our present apartment is up and the owner has told us that he will want the house back.
Last Friday was our last Ladies Bible Study in the series were were doing. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and talked about what a blessing the time had been to them. The ladies are now working on preparations for our "Ladies Day" the 29th. Please be praying with us as we work on the final plans. We have about 60 ladies signed up to attend. Please pray that those who have committed to come will follow through.
Sunday we had 87 in church. That was down from the week before, but many people were sick or out of town. Please pray for the growth and faithfulness of these new Christians.
We are getting excited here in the Anzalone house about Thanksgiving. I have to say that it is one of our favorite holidays. We have decorated the house. Bought all the "extra" goodies to cook and bake the traditional feast. We are cleaning out and sprucing up the house for company. In the middle of all this "busyness" we are taking some extra time to talk about what the holiday means, and think of things that we are thankful for. This year, we added a paper turkey to the door between our kitchen and dining room and are adding "thankful feathers" to it. We have even enlisted our daughters and son-in-laws in the the US to participate with us, by sending us things they are thankful for so we can add feathers for them. Teddy is getting into the whole thing!
I pray that you have a wonderful holiday, whether you are near or far away from your family...may you find many reasons to count your blessings and give thanks to the Lord!
God bless you!
Joy
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Plans, Plans and more Plans
Life is running along non-stop these days. The ladies are getting very excited about our special day the end of the month. On Wednesday I met with the 3 leaders of our Ladies Groups and everything is going forward. We have about 50 ladies already signed up to participate! Of course all of those aren't "paid" yet, so the actual attendance could be less, but it is encouraging to see so many excited about this event.
The Friday Bible Studies have continued to be well attended. This past Friday, I was sick, so Tony went and taught the class. That was a unique experience for both him and the ladies! :-) This Friday will be our last study in this series.
There is a group of ladies that continue to take turns teaching the Ladies Sunday School Class. They are doing a great job and I have enjoyed seeing them "try their wings".
The Children's classes continue to go well. We are excited to be getting ready to start our 4th quarter for this year. The Lord has given us a great group of teachers for this ministry and I am very thankful for that.
This month we need to make plans for the Children's Christmas Party. Please pray as we work on planning the program for this special event. The groups that go to Travesia to minister are also in the midst of planning their Christmas program. It is also time to start collecting cookies and candy to make the "navidad" bags, (goodie bags) to hand out the children at the parties.
After seeing how well the groups have worked in the Ladies ministry, the men have decided this is something they should put into practice. So they are in the process of getting this ministry strated too. Also they have decided that the women are having too much fun, with all their Bible Studies and "special days", so they are planning an activity for Saturday the 22nd. Please keep these ministries in your prayers.
This morning we had 115 in church! I have to tell you the place was packed! There were 99 uspstairs on the teraza! I honestly don't know where we would have put many more. We had about 10 first time visitors! What an exciting sight to see. Tonight was our last class on Child Discipline. We also had a meeting with the Leadership team afterwards.
This coming week, we have much to do. Please continue to pray for Zonia and her family in these days, as she continues to battle cancer. Please pray for Maria Jose and I as we finish up the next quarter of Sunday School material and get it copied and ready to hand out Sunday. Pray for Tony as he works with the different areas of ministry...pray for progress with the building. Pray for Teddy and I as we do school.
Thank you for your interest in our family and the ministry here in Manta. We appreciate your prayers for us!
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
The Friday Bible Studies have continued to be well attended. This past Friday, I was sick, so Tony went and taught the class. That was a unique experience for both him and the ladies! :-) This Friday will be our last study in this series.
There is a group of ladies that continue to take turns teaching the Ladies Sunday School Class. They are doing a great job and I have enjoyed seeing them "try their wings".
The Children's classes continue to go well. We are excited to be getting ready to start our 4th quarter for this year. The Lord has given us a great group of teachers for this ministry and I am very thankful for that.
This month we need to make plans for the Children's Christmas Party. Please pray as we work on planning the program for this special event. The groups that go to Travesia to minister are also in the midst of planning their Christmas program. It is also time to start collecting cookies and candy to make the "navidad" bags, (goodie bags) to hand out the children at the parties.
After seeing how well the groups have worked in the Ladies ministry, the men have decided this is something they should put into practice. So they are in the process of getting this ministry strated too. Also they have decided that the women are having too much fun, with all their Bible Studies and "special days", so they are planning an activity for Saturday the 22nd. Please keep these ministries in your prayers.
This morning we had 115 in church! I have to tell you the place was packed! There were 99 uspstairs on the teraza! I honestly don't know where we would have put many more. We had about 10 first time visitors! What an exciting sight to see. Tonight was our last class on Child Discipline. We also had a meeting with the Leadership team afterwards.
This coming week, we have much to do. Please continue to pray for Zonia and her family in these days, as she continues to battle cancer. Please pray for Maria Jose and I as we finish up the next quarter of Sunday School material and get it copied and ready to hand out Sunday. Pray for Tony as he works with the different areas of ministry...pray for progress with the building. Pray for Teddy and I as we do school.
Thank you for your interest in our family and the ministry here in Manta. We appreciate your prayers for us!
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
November is here!
Good Morning! This is vacation time here in Ecuador. November 2nd is "Day of the Dead" here. This is a time for families to get together. Many go to the cemeteries and decorate the graves of family members. In the mountains they make a drink called "colada morada" and also bread in the shape of little dolls. I was able to bring back some of the igredients needed for the drink when I returned from Quito on Wednesday and on of the ladies made it for our Friday Bible Study. It was a big hit! :-)
Because of the Holiday our attendance of course was down Sunday, but it was such a blessing to see that we still had 70! Also many people that were out of town, had made sure that their responsibilities were covered. We are excited to see this growth in the people here.
The Ladies Bible Studies on Friday continue to go well. They are well attended, and many of the ladies have expressed what a blessing they have been. We have 2 more weeks for this series. Pray for me as I teach these classes.
Our sweet sister, Zonia Marriot, is in the final days of her cancer. She is at home, and her daughter, Melanie and son-in-law Luis are her main care givers. Her daughter Dina and her husband Marco live in Quito and have been making the trip down, whenever possible. Please keep this sweet family in your prayers. Melanie is expecting their first child the end of December, and she so wanted her mother to live to see the baby.
Melanie shared with us on Friday, that her mother had been talking to her about her funeral. She told her that she wanted lots and lots of singing and praising God. She didn't want anyone crying, because she would be in heaven, and that certianly wasn't anything to be crying about!
Please pray for our son Teddy. He started running a temp yesterday afternoon and complaining of a headache. Because the temp was pretty high, we decided to take him to a nearby clinic and get checked out. The doctor told us that he is in the first stages of getting something...but she couldn't tell what yet. We needed to wait about 48 hours, and it should manifest itself. In the meantime she gave us medicine to help control the fever. She told us that there are 3 things going around right now...one is a virus that is just a high fever and headache and after about 48 hours, goes away. The other two both start out with high fever and headache, but then turn into either a bad cold, or stomach problems...so we are in the "waiting process" right now.
We thank you so much for your prayers for our family and the ministry here in Manta!
God Bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
Because of the Holiday our attendance of course was down Sunday, but it was such a blessing to see that we still had 70! Also many people that were out of town, had made sure that their responsibilities were covered. We are excited to see this growth in the people here.
The Ladies Bible Studies on Friday continue to go well. They are well attended, and many of the ladies have expressed what a blessing they have been. We have 2 more weeks for this series. Pray for me as I teach these classes.
Our sweet sister, Zonia Marriot, is in the final days of her cancer. She is at home, and her daughter, Melanie and son-in-law Luis are her main care givers. Her daughter Dina and her husband Marco live in Quito and have been making the trip down, whenever possible. Please keep this sweet family in your prayers. Melanie is expecting their first child the end of December, and she so wanted her mother to live to see the baby.
Melanie shared with us on Friday, that her mother had been talking to her about her funeral. She told her that she wanted lots and lots of singing and praising God. She didn't want anyone crying, because she would be in heaven, and that certianly wasn't anything to be crying about!
Please pray for our son Teddy. He started running a temp yesterday afternoon and complaining of a headache. Because the temp was pretty high, we decided to take him to a nearby clinic and get checked out. The doctor told us that he is in the first stages of getting something...but she couldn't tell what yet. We needed to wait about 48 hours, and it should manifest itself. In the meantime she gave us medicine to help control the fever. She told us that there are 3 things going around right now...one is a virus that is just a high fever and headache and after about 48 hours, goes away. The other two both start out with high fever and headache, but then turn into either a bad cold, or stomach problems...so we are in the "waiting process" right now.
We thank you so much for your prayers for our family and the ministry here in Manta!
God Bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
Sunday, October 19, 2008
In Quito
Good Morning, Everyone! We are in Quito this week-end. Last night we were able to attend a banquet in honor of our co-workers, Jim and Sharon Smith. Tonight there will be a special service to say "good-bye" to them.
Our trip up the mountain went fine. We enjoyed a couple days in Santo Domingo. We missed visiting with Joe and Sylvia Wells as they are in the US right now, because of some medical problems. Please keep Joe in your prayers as he has a heart catherization on Monday and for the doctors to have wisdom to decide the best course of action. Tony enjoyed the Pastors and Leaders retreat. 3 of the leaders from Manta were also able to attend, and they had a great time!
This morning we will be driving over to Sangolqui for the morning service. It will be nice to see many of the people that we worked with while here in Quito.
Thank you for your prayers for our safety as we traveled, and for the ministry in Manta. Please pray for us as we travel back to Manta on Tuesday.
God Bless you!
Joy
Our trip up the mountain went fine. We enjoyed a couple days in Santo Domingo. We missed visiting with Joe and Sylvia Wells as they are in the US right now, because of some medical problems. Please keep Joe in your prayers as he has a heart catherization on Monday and for the doctors to have wisdom to decide the best course of action. Tony enjoyed the Pastors and Leaders retreat. 3 of the leaders from Manta were also able to attend, and they had a great time!
This morning we will be driving over to Sangolqui for the morning service. It will be nice to see many of the people that we worked with while here in Quito.
Thank you for your prayers for our safety as we traveled, and for the ministry in Manta. Please pray for us as we travel back to Manta on Tuesday.
God Bless you!
Joy
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Fall is here!
Teddy and I found our fall decorations and dragged them all out yesterday. We have fake pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns all around the house now. So even though it might not "feel" like fall down here on the equator, it certainly looks like fall in our house!
We are staying busy here. Friday we had 23 ladies who attended the Bible Studies. Everyone sees to be enjoying the study and the time of fellowship together. This morning we had over 90 in church. It is exciting to see the growth taking place in people's lives. This evening I met with the Sunday School teachers to start planning our Christmas Program. The child discipline class was well attended tonight. Please pray for many of our new christian parents, who are trying to learn to put into practice Christian principles of parenting.
After the Child Discipline class, we had a meeting with the Leadership Team.
This coming week we will be traveling to Santo Domingo. Tony will be involved in a Pastor's and Leader's retreat, Thursday-Saturday. Then Saturday we will travel on up to Quito to be there for a Farewell dinner and service for the Smith's.
Thank you for your prayers for our family and the ministry here in Manta.
God Bless you as you serve him this week.
Joy
We are staying busy here. Friday we had 23 ladies who attended the Bible Studies. Everyone sees to be enjoying the study and the time of fellowship together. This morning we had over 90 in church. It is exciting to see the growth taking place in people's lives. This evening I met with the Sunday School teachers to start planning our Christmas Program. The child discipline class was well attended tonight. Please pray for many of our new christian parents, who are trying to learn to put into practice Christian principles of parenting.
After the Child Discipline class, we had a meeting with the Leadership Team.
This coming week we will be traveling to Santo Domingo. Tony will be involved in a Pastor's and Leader's retreat, Thursday-Saturday. Then Saturday we will travel on up to Quito to be there for a Farewell dinner and service for the Smith's.
Thank you for your prayers for our family and the ministry here in Manta.
God Bless you as you serve him this week.
Joy
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Pumpkins...
Well, it is officially "Fall" in the Anzalone house. You may ask, "How do you know?" Since we live on the equator and there is hardly any seasonal changes that you could notice. Well, I can tell you it "Fall" because we have cooked pumpkin, and baked pumpkin bread...Also had our traditional "Apple Cake", that we only make in the fall! This week, it will be time to get out all the decorations...there are "fake pumpkins" and "fake leaves"...some little scare crows. Yes, Fall has definitely arrived! :-)
Last week was "vacation" time for Teddy, as we had finished the 1st quarter. He even received a report card, and I can tell you that over all he did very well. We are looking forward to getting back at school tomorrow.
Wednesday afternoon, I met again with the 3 leaders of our Ladies Groups. We had a very good meeting, and our plans for this new Bible Study session we have started and for our special "Ladies Day" the end of November are coming along very well. We are excited to see how everything is falling into place. Thank you for your prayers.
Friday we held our first Ladies Bible Studies in this 6 week session. We were thrilled that 23 of the 33 Ladies that had signed up attended. Today we even had a few more let us know that they were interested in coming. On Friday we had 10 ladies in the 3-5 session and 13 in the 7-9 session. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I appreciate so much Tony and Teddy going along and being there to have a "class" for any of the children that show up. It was a long day, but also an encouraging one. I appreciate your prayers, especially for me, on Fridays, that I would be well rested and have the energy needed to complete this task. I know that many were praying for me this last Friday, as Spanish is always a challenge for me, but even more so when I am tired, and I was concerned that I would have a hard time in the 7-9 session, but God was so good, and I have to say that the 2nd class seemed to go even smoother than the first!
We had 95 in church this morning. The church continues to grow and we continue to have 1st time visitors. It was thrilling this morning, to be able to let people know that we had received Bibles this week, that we could give away! One of the ladies that has been attending now for awhile, but who I don't think has accepted Christ yet, asked me today, if she could have a Bible! Please keep Monica in your prayers.
Thank you for your prayers for the ministry here in Manta! Thank you for your prayers for our family. God has been so good to us!
God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Last week was "vacation" time for Teddy, as we had finished the 1st quarter. He even received a report card, and I can tell you that over all he did very well. We are looking forward to getting back at school tomorrow.
Wednesday afternoon, I met again with the 3 leaders of our Ladies Groups. We had a very good meeting, and our plans for this new Bible Study session we have started and for our special "Ladies Day" the end of November are coming along very well. We are excited to see how everything is falling into place. Thank you for your prayers.
Friday we held our first Ladies Bible Studies in this 6 week session. We were thrilled that 23 of the 33 Ladies that had signed up attended. Today we even had a few more let us know that they were interested in coming. On Friday we had 10 ladies in the 3-5 session and 13 in the 7-9 session. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I appreciate so much Tony and Teddy going along and being there to have a "class" for any of the children that show up. It was a long day, but also an encouraging one. I appreciate your prayers, especially for me, on Fridays, that I would be well rested and have the energy needed to complete this task. I know that many were praying for me this last Friday, as Spanish is always a challenge for me, but even more so when I am tired, and I was concerned that I would have a hard time in the 7-9 session, but God was so good, and I have to say that the 2nd class seemed to go even smoother than the first!
We had 95 in church this morning. The church continues to grow and we continue to have 1st time visitors. It was thrilling this morning, to be able to let people know that we had received Bibles this week, that we could give away! One of the ladies that has been attending now for awhile, but who I don't think has accepted Christ yet, asked me today, if she could have a Bible! Please keep Monica in your prayers.
Thank you for your prayers for the ministry here in Manta! Thank you for your prayers for our family. God has been so good to us!
God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Special blessings!
This morning after church we were happy to hear that 2 of the children in our younger children's class prayed to accept Christ. Also we have some special news of our own...After lunch this afternoon, Teddy was talking we us, and he prayed and asked the Lord to be his Savior too! He said, he wanted to do it to make sure. Please rejoice with us!
We had a great week. God has been working and blessing here. Yesterday was our monthly ladies meeting, and I had the opportunity of hosting it. 27 ladies showed up! I was very thankful that I had decided to make 2 cakes. A few ladies had told me that 1 cake should be plenty as they usually only had around 10 or 15. We were thrilled to have several new ladies, that have just been attending the church a short time, join us. Everyone seemed to have a great time.
Today is the vote to accept or reject the new constitution, In Ecuador voting is mandatory, and always on a Sunday, so we cut back on our services, and only had our 10:30 service. We still had a little over 60 and were thrilled with that! We also had 3 first time visitors.
This coming Friday we will be starting our first Ladies Bible Study Session. We are planning to have 3 different sessions during the year, with each session lasting 6 to 10 weeks. This first one, will be a 6 week study. I am doing something different this time too, as we have decided to offer it at 2 different times, to try and make it more available to the ladies. It has been exciting to see the response. 33 ladies have signed up, 17 for the evening session, and 16 for the afternoon session. Please be praying for this Bible Studies. We are also working on planning our "Ladies Day" the last Saturday in November. We were excited that we found a restaurant with a large meeting room, that was willing to give us the room for the whole day! They are only charging us $6 per person, and that includes the lunch. We are planning to start around 10:00am and go until 3:00pm. Everyone is very excited about the whole thing.
Pray with us, that we would have the energy and strength to keep up with all the opportunities the Lord opens for us. It is easy to get so "busy" doing the work, that you neglect the important things. God has been so very good to us. We are thankful for each blessing and each new door that he has opened before us. We are thankful too, for the great attitude of unity in our church and for the brothers and sisters in Christ who are growing and stepping up to take some of the load. Thank you for your prayers!
Praying God blesses each of you this week, as you walk with Him!
Joy
We had a great week. God has been working and blessing here. Yesterday was our monthly ladies meeting, and I had the opportunity of hosting it. 27 ladies showed up! I was very thankful that I had decided to make 2 cakes. A few ladies had told me that 1 cake should be plenty as they usually only had around 10 or 15. We were thrilled to have several new ladies, that have just been attending the church a short time, join us. Everyone seemed to have a great time.
Today is the vote to accept or reject the new constitution, In Ecuador voting is mandatory, and always on a Sunday, so we cut back on our services, and only had our 10:30 service. We still had a little over 60 and were thrilled with that! We also had 3 first time visitors.
This coming Friday we will be starting our first Ladies Bible Study Session. We are planning to have 3 different sessions during the year, with each session lasting 6 to 10 weeks. This first one, will be a 6 week study. I am doing something different this time too, as we have decided to offer it at 2 different times, to try and make it more available to the ladies. It has been exciting to see the response. 33 ladies have signed up, 17 for the evening session, and 16 for the afternoon session. Please be praying for this Bible Studies. We are also working on planning our "Ladies Day" the last Saturday in November. We were excited that we found a restaurant with a large meeting room, that was willing to give us the room for the whole day! They are only charging us $6 per person, and that includes the lunch. We are planning to start around 10:00am and go until 3:00pm. Everyone is very excited about the whole thing.
Pray with us, that we would have the energy and strength to keep up with all the opportunities the Lord opens for us. It is easy to get so "busy" doing the work, that you neglect the important things. God has been so very good to us. We are thankful for each blessing and each new door that he has opened before us. We are thankful too, for the great attitude of unity in our church and for the brothers and sisters in Christ who are growing and stepping up to take some of the load. Thank you for your prayers!
Praying God blesses each of you this week, as you walk with Him!
Joy
Monday, September 22, 2008
"Apples of gold in pictures of silver"
Have you ever thought about the words that you speak? Do you take the time to choose your words, or do you just say whatever comes to you mind? I had the opportunity this week to read a devotion about the importance of the words we use. I have been preparing for a ladies meeting that will be here this coming Saturday.
In the devotion I read, it was brought up that we take great care with most things in our lives, but what about the words we use... Think about it, when you get dressed in the morning you don't just go into a dark closet, and pull out the first thing your hand touches and put it on. You think about what you will be doing... going to work, cleaning house, having a meeting, shopping, etc. You dress accordingly. Yet so often where our words are concerned, we just throw out whatever comes to mind, and think it will do.
I am going to be using Proverbs 25:11 as our theme verse. "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." The idea is that our words are to be a "beautiful thing".
I would really appreciate your prayers for me this week, as I prepare for this Ladies meeting on Saturday. Also for Tony and I as we work on writing a Bible Study together that I will be teaching in a 6 week session for the ladies, starting Oct. 3.
We had a great day today. 81 were present in church this morning. We had a few first time visitors. Among them was a lady that had accepted Christ through the BBN radio ministry here in Manta. She had called their office in Guayaquil and they had referred her to us. We had talked to her on Thursday and invited her to church this morning. What a blessing to see her arrive! This evening we started a series of DVDs on child discipline. We had 30 adults in attendance for this.
The ladies group leaders are getting excited about the special "Ladies Day" we are planning for the end of November. They have found a place where we can meet, that will provide the food, conference room, which includes tables, chairs, table clothes, etc... all for $6 a person, so we are thrilled about that! We are planning to start around 10:00 in the morning, and go until about 3:00 in the afternoon. We will have 2 teaching sessions, a "Christmas choir", lunch and a Christmas handcraft.
I would like to ask you to pray for Veronica and for Marti. These are two ladies that I have been witnessing to and have invited to church. Veronica and her husband have shown an interest in visiting the church but the last 3 weeks, Satan has put obstacles in their way. The first week Vero, got food poisoning and was very sick over the week-end. Then last week, she developed and inflammation in her leg and is having a hard time walking. Each time I see her, she says one day soon, she will surprise me and show up at church.
Marti has shown little interest in coming to church. She and her husband go out of town most week-ends. I am hoping that I can get her to attend the Ladies Day in November. Please pray for each of these ladies. That the Lord would work in their hearts and draw them to him.
Thank you for your prayers for the ministry here and for our family. It is very exciting to see what the Lord is doing in the different lives of people we work with. But there are days, as you all know when we get tired and with that comes discouragement. Times when we don't always "see" with the eyes of Christ.
Praying that you have a great week serving the Lord, where he has placed you!
Love, Joy
In the devotion I read, it was brought up that we take great care with most things in our lives, but what about the words we use... Think about it, when you get dressed in the morning you don't just go into a dark closet, and pull out the first thing your hand touches and put it on. You think about what you will be doing... going to work, cleaning house, having a meeting, shopping, etc. You dress accordingly. Yet so often where our words are concerned, we just throw out whatever comes to mind, and think it will do.
I am going to be using Proverbs 25:11 as our theme verse. "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." The idea is that our words are to be a "beautiful thing".
I would really appreciate your prayers for me this week, as I prepare for this Ladies meeting on Saturday. Also for Tony and I as we work on writing a Bible Study together that I will be teaching in a 6 week session for the ladies, starting Oct. 3.
We had a great day today. 81 were present in church this morning. We had a few first time visitors. Among them was a lady that had accepted Christ through the BBN radio ministry here in Manta. She had called their office in Guayaquil and they had referred her to us. We had talked to her on Thursday and invited her to church this morning. What a blessing to see her arrive! This evening we started a series of DVDs on child discipline. We had 30 adults in attendance for this.
The ladies group leaders are getting excited about the special "Ladies Day" we are planning for the end of November. They have found a place where we can meet, that will provide the food, conference room, which includes tables, chairs, table clothes, etc... all for $6 a person, so we are thrilled about that! We are planning to start around 10:00 in the morning, and go until about 3:00 in the afternoon. We will have 2 teaching sessions, a "Christmas choir", lunch and a Christmas handcraft.
I would like to ask you to pray for Veronica and for Marti. These are two ladies that I have been witnessing to and have invited to church. Veronica and her husband have shown an interest in visiting the church but the last 3 weeks, Satan has put obstacles in their way. The first week Vero, got food poisoning and was very sick over the week-end. Then last week, she developed and inflammation in her leg and is having a hard time walking. Each time I see her, she says one day soon, she will surprise me and show up at church.
Marti has shown little interest in coming to church. She and her husband go out of town most week-ends. I am hoping that I can get her to attend the Ladies Day in November. Please pray for each of these ladies. That the Lord would work in their hearts and draw them to him.
Thank you for your prayers for the ministry here and for our family. It is very exciting to see what the Lord is doing in the different lives of people we work with. But there are days, as you all know when we get tired and with that comes discouragement. Times when we don't always "see" with the eyes of Christ.
Praying that you have a great week serving the Lord, where he has placed you!
Love, Joy
Monday, September 15, 2008
Lord, keep my eyes on you!
Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. (Psalm 66:1)
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. (Psalm 71:1)
He that dwelleth in the secret in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
(Psalm 91:1 & 2)
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High. (Psalm 92:1)
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us,and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. (Psalm 100)
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. (Psalm 103:1)
As I start this week, I pray that my eyes will remained focused on the Lord. That I will glorify Him with every word that I say and every action that I take. That my steps will be ordered by him. That today, it will not be "me" but Christ in me that others see.
God has been so good to us. Yesterday was another attendance high for our church here in Manta. We had 116 in the preaching service! Tony was able to talk with one lady about salvation. We aren't sure if she accepted Christ, but the seed has been planted and watered. Another gentleman, stayed around after church to speak to Tony too. He wanted to talk to Tony about baptism. He said, "I was baptized in another church, but I don't think it counts, because I didn't know what I was doing. I was there and they get in the water and be baptized, so I did what they said, but I wasn't really baptized, I just got wet!"
We had "sign-up" sheets available for the new Ladies Bible Study session, that will start Oct. 3. 13 Ladies have already signed up! Pray for Tony and I as we prepare the material for this study. This is the first time, we will be writing our own material.
Yesterday we divided the younger children's class, for the church hour. What a blessing to have the workers to do this, and also to see how much better it worked out for everyone. Teddy was even excited about the new class!
I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry group leaders this week. Please pray for us as we work on continued plans for the new Bible Study sessions, the Ladies Day in November, and other areas of ministry for the Ladies.
Pray with Tony as he meets with men this week. Some for the building, some for leadership roles, some for discipleship.
Please pray for me as I work with Teddy each morning. Also as I meet with different ladies, in mentoring roles.
God bless you as you follow and serve him this week!
Love, Joy
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. (Psalm 71:1)
He that dwelleth in the secret in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
(Psalm 91:1 & 2)
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High. (Psalm 92:1)
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us,and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. (Psalm 100)
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. (Psalm 103:1)
As I start this week, I pray that my eyes will remained focused on the Lord. That I will glorify Him with every word that I say and every action that I take. That my steps will be ordered by him. That today, it will not be "me" but Christ in me that others see.
God has been so good to us. Yesterday was another attendance high for our church here in Manta. We had 116 in the preaching service! Tony was able to talk with one lady about salvation. We aren't sure if she accepted Christ, but the seed has been planted and watered. Another gentleman, stayed around after church to speak to Tony too. He wanted to talk to Tony about baptism. He said, "I was baptized in another church, but I don't think it counts, because I didn't know what I was doing. I was there and they get in the water and be baptized, so I did what they said, but I wasn't really baptized, I just got wet!"
We had "sign-up" sheets available for the new Ladies Bible Study session, that will start Oct. 3. 13 Ladies have already signed up! Pray for Tony and I as we prepare the material for this study. This is the first time, we will be writing our own material.
Yesterday we divided the younger children's class, for the church hour. What a blessing to have the workers to do this, and also to see how much better it worked out for everyone. Teddy was even excited about the new class!
I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry group leaders this week. Please pray for us as we work on continued plans for the new Bible Study sessions, the Ladies Day in November, and other areas of ministry for the Ladies.
Pray with Tony as he meets with men this week. Some for the building, some for leadership roles, some for discipleship.
Please pray for me as I work with Teddy each morning. Also as I meet with different ladies, in mentoring roles.
God bless you as you follow and serve him this week!
Love, Joy
Monday, September 8, 2008
Growing pains...
Hey everyone! Hope you are having a great start to your week. We continue to see growth in our church here Manta. The Ladies groups are taking off and over all it has been a very good thing. Ladies have been encouraged to receive phone calls and realize that someone noticed they weren't in the service. They have also been able to share their prayer requests and needs.
As we continue to work and plan, please keep this new phase of the ministry in your prayers. Setting up "networks" for people to be able to stay in touch and encourage one another is a great thing, but also poses the risks of someone using them for things that they weren't intended for.
We are excited that Tony was able to purchase the steel, for the building last week. Tomorrow morning is he meeting with an "earth moving" company, to see about getting the property leveled off.
We had 100 yesterday morning in our worship service! The place was pretty much busting at the seams. We will be trying something new next week. We will be dividing the younger children, 3 years old - 1st grade, into two groups... 3-4 years olds, and kindergarten and 1st grade, for the 2nd hour. It would be wonderful to be able to divide this group for the Sunday School hour, but there just is not another room, to use during that first hour.
Plans are in the works for a 6 week Ladies Bible study session to start Oct. 3. Please pray as we work out all the details for this ministry. Also in the plans are the special Ladies Day, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
I have a meeting Friday morning with a lady that has been attending the church a few weeks. Please pray for Monica. Tony has a couple other meetings also on the schedule for this week. We appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we meet and try to give comfort and help to people. The 2nd Leadership Team meeting is this coming Sunday evening.
God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
As we continue to work and plan, please keep this new phase of the ministry in your prayers. Setting up "networks" for people to be able to stay in touch and encourage one another is a great thing, but also poses the risks of someone using them for things that they weren't intended for.
We are excited that Tony was able to purchase the steel, for the building last week. Tomorrow morning is he meeting with an "earth moving" company, to see about getting the property leveled off.
We had 100 yesterday morning in our worship service! The place was pretty much busting at the seams. We will be trying something new next week. We will be dividing the younger children, 3 years old - 1st grade, into two groups... 3-4 years olds, and kindergarten and 1st grade, for the 2nd hour. It would be wonderful to be able to divide this group for the Sunday School hour, but there just is not another room, to use during that first hour.
Plans are in the works for a 6 week Ladies Bible study session to start Oct. 3. Please pray as we work out all the details for this ministry. Also in the plans are the special Ladies Day, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
I have a meeting Friday morning with a lady that has been attending the church a few weeks. Please pray for Monica. Tony has a couple other meetings also on the schedule for this week. We appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we meet and try to give comfort and help to people. The 2nd Leadership Team meeting is this coming Sunday evening.
God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Monday, September 1, 2008
Happy Labor Day!
I want to wish you all a wonderful Labor Day! Hope you enjoy the day off from classes and work.
We have had a great week-end. God is blessing the work here in Manta, and we are thrilled to be able to be a part of it.
This past week-end 14 ladies from our church went to the Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We were thrilled. We have 16 signed up and only 2 that weren't able in the end to make it. They had a wonderful time of fellowship and fun, but also gave wonderful testimonies yesterday of how the Lord used the Bible teaching to work in their hearts.
Another special blessing to me, was the last session of our Teacher Training seminar. We had 25 sign-up and start 5 weeks ago, and I am praising the Lord that 21 people completed the program! We will be handing out certificates on the 14th. It is so exciting to think of what can be done in our Children's ministry with so many trained and dedicated workers. Please pray with us and we plan for monthly kid's nights, the Children's Christmas party in December, VBS in March and then the possibility of Neighhood Bible Clubs as a follow-up of VBS. We are so thankful to see how the Lord is working and bringing people along side to minister with us!
Some upcoming events we would really appreciate your prayers for...
This Wednesday, Tony will be starting a new series in our CODA meeting, (this is our weekly small group/prayer meeting time).
On Sunday evening, September 21, we will be starting a class on "How to Discipline" for parents, "want to be parents" and even grandparents. Please pray with us. Tony will be using a video series we purchased while in the US as a springboard for the sessions. Each video segment is about 10 minutes and then he will be teaching. This is a huge need here as we are seeing more and more problems in our Sunday School and when we talk to parents, the answer is always the same, "I don't know what to do" or "I don't know how".
Wednesday afternoon, I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry Team to start planning some special events for the Ladies. Please pray for wisdom and direction as we go forward with these plans.
We appreciate so much your prayers and concerns for the ministry here. I would love to hear from you, whenever you have a chance.
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
We have had a great week-end. God is blessing the work here in Manta, and we are thrilled to be able to be a part of it.
This past week-end 14 ladies from our church went to the Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We were thrilled. We have 16 signed up and only 2 that weren't able in the end to make it. They had a wonderful time of fellowship and fun, but also gave wonderful testimonies yesterday of how the Lord used the Bible teaching to work in their hearts.
Another special blessing to me, was the last session of our Teacher Training seminar. We had 25 sign-up and start 5 weeks ago, and I am praising the Lord that 21 people completed the program! We will be handing out certificates on the 14th. It is so exciting to think of what can be done in our Children's ministry with so many trained and dedicated workers. Please pray with us and we plan for monthly kid's nights, the Children's Christmas party in December, VBS in March and then the possibility of Neighhood Bible Clubs as a follow-up of VBS. We are so thankful to see how the Lord is working and bringing people along side to minister with us!
Some upcoming events we would really appreciate your prayers for...
This Wednesday, Tony will be starting a new series in our CODA meeting, (this is our weekly small group/prayer meeting time).
On Sunday evening, September 21, we will be starting a class on "How to Discipline" for parents, "want to be parents" and even grandparents. Please pray with us. Tony will be using a video series we purchased while in the US as a springboard for the sessions. Each video segment is about 10 minutes and then he will be teaching. This is a huge need here as we are seeing more and more problems in our Sunday School and when we talk to parents, the answer is always the same, "I don't know what to do" or "I don't know how".
Wednesday afternoon, I will be meeting with our Ladies Ministry Team to start planning some special events for the Ladies. Please pray for wisdom and direction as we go forward with these plans.
We appreciate so much your prayers and concerns for the ministry here. I would love to hear from you, whenever you have a chance.
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting this week. I had started a post yesterday morning and our power went out, so that was the end of that! :-)
Today is Ashley's birthday! It is hard for me to believe that 23 years have past since I gave birth to her! We are so thankful for her and the wonderful Christian lady she has become.
We had a great week-end. Our Saturday night teacher training series is progressing. We have had great participation throughout. This coming week will be our final meeting. We are having the meeting on Sunday evening this week, because 16 of the ladies from church are going to be attending a Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We are so happy that so many of them are able to go! The ladies are very excited about this.
We had a "full house" on Sunday. I really have no idea what the count was as I forgot to ask, those doing the counting. But there were few chairs empty. :-)
It has been exciting to see how the people are growing and taking on more responsibilities for the ministry. Sunday evening, we had our first meeting of a new "leadership council" that Tony has formed. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for this new group.
Last week our plans were approved by the city and the permits were all granted. This morning, Tony is meeting with our architect as we prepare to break ground for our building!
Thank you for your prayers!
Joy
Today is Ashley's birthday! It is hard for me to believe that 23 years have past since I gave birth to her! We are so thankful for her and the wonderful Christian lady she has become.
We had a great week-end. Our Saturday night teacher training series is progressing. We have had great participation throughout. This coming week will be our final meeting. We are having the meeting on Sunday evening this week, because 16 of the ladies from church are going to be attending a Ladies Retreat in Santo Domingo. We are so happy that so many of them are able to go! The ladies are very excited about this.
We had a "full house" on Sunday. I really have no idea what the count was as I forgot to ask, those doing the counting. But there were few chairs empty. :-)
It has been exciting to see how the people are growing and taking on more responsibilities for the ministry. Sunday evening, we had our first meeting of a new "leadership council" that Tony has formed. Please pray for wisdom and guidance for this new group.
Last week our plans were approved by the city and the permits were all granted. This morning, Tony is meeting with our architect as we prepare to break ground for our building!
Thank you for your prayers!
Joy
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Home Sweet Home!
We arrived back home to Manta, Friday evening. The week at camp went great. Tony's messages came together, and he felt that he got a good response from the teens. One boy that we know of accepted Christ and that was certianly exciting! The camp was outside of Cuenca in the mountians. It was a beautiful setting and for these 3 "manabitas" extremely cold! We are sure that the temps got down in the low 40s at night, and we just don't own the kind of clothes to wear for that kind of weather! LOL Fortunately, Sarah had brought extra blankets for us and we were able to keep warm, at night, wearing multiple layers and huddling under 2 wool blankets!
It was a nice time to fellowship and get to know Yuri and Sarah Alfaro along with their two boys, Samuel and Jared.
Yesterday afternoon, 15 ladies attended the monthly ladies meeting. They all had a great time of fellowship and encouraging one another.
Last night was our 3rd session of the teacher training classes. It has been encouraging to me to see the interest and work that everyone is putting into these classes. Thank you for your prayers for me. It was very exciting today, to see the teachers putting into practice what they have been learning!
This morning we had 81 in church. After Sunday School, Janneth, one of the children's teachers came up to me, along with one of her students and told me that he had accepted Christ this morning in class! Later on when Maria Jose came upstairs she was excited and wanted to make sure that I knew that one of their boys had been saved. What a blessing to see them so excited about know that they are putting into practice the lessons we have had about how to lead child to Christ!
The ladies at church are very excited about the upcoming retreat in Santo Domingo. At this time we have 13 ladies signed up to go. There is a possiblity of 2 more, and I should know for sure by tomorrow.
We also heard today that the Proaño's will be returning to Manta on Tuesday. The news at this time, is that the treatments in Quito went really well. Please continue to keep this precious family in your prayers.
Please keep the ministry here in Manta in your prayers. We are excited to see God working in so many people's lives. It is also a great blessing to see so many people getting involved in the work. We now have 3 ladies working with me in our ladies minstry here. They each have a group of ladies that they are keeping track of... calling when they absent, praying for them, etc. Also Wilda and Lupe are working with me, taking turns teaching the ladies Sunday School class.
We just started our 3rd quarter in our Children's Sunday School. Cecila and Javier are teaching our younger children's class... 3 years old through 1st grade, and Mariá Jose and Janneth are teaching the older children's class... 2nd through 6th grade. It will certianly be nice when we have the room to divide the classes up more, but we are thankful at this time, that we can at least have 2 classes and not try to put all the children 3 to 12 in one class! (that was the case at one time!)
There is much going on this week! Our building plans and permits were approved last week! That means we can start work on the building soon. Tony has various appointments for discipleship classes this week. Also Bible Institute class is Thursday evening. Teddy and I will get back into school. We will be starting week 4. I also will be meeting with a couple ladies this week, along with preparing this coming weeks lessons for the traing class on Saturday.
Thank you for your prayers. God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
It was a nice time to fellowship and get to know Yuri and Sarah Alfaro along with their two boys, Samuel and Jared.
Yesterday afternoon, 15 ladies attended the monthly ladies meeting. They all had a great time of fellowship and encouraging one another.
Last night was our 3rd session of the teacher training classes. It has been encouraging to me to see the interest and work that everyone is putting into these classes. Thank you for your prayers for me. It was very exciting today, to see the teachers putting into practice what they have been learning!
This morning we had 81 in church. After Sunday School, Janneth, one of the children's teachers came up to me, along with one of her students and told me that he had accepted Christ this morning in class! Later on when Maria Jose came upstairs she was excited and wanted to make sure that I knew that one of their boys had been saved. What a blessing to see them so excited about know that they are putting into practice the lessons we have had about how to lead child to Christ!
The ladies at church are very excited about the upcoming retreat in Santo Domingo. At this time we have 13 ladies signed up to go. There is a possiblity of 2 more, and I should know for sure by tomorrow.
We also heard today that the Proaño's will be returning to Manta on Tuesday. The news at this time, is that the treatments in Quito went really well. Please continue to keep this precious family in your prayers.
Please keep the ministry here in Manta in your prayers. We are excited to see God working in so many people's lives. It is also a great blessing to see so many people getting involved in the work. We now have 3 ladies working with me in our ladies minstry here. They each have a group of ladies that they are keeping track of... calling when they absent, praying for them, etc. Also Wilda and Lupe are working with me, taking turns teaching the ladies Sunday School class.
We just started our 3rd quarter in our Children's Sunday School. Cecila and Javier are teaching our younger children's class... 3 years old through 1st grade, and Mariá Jose and Janneth are teaching the older children's class... 2nd through 6th grade. It will certianly be nice when we have the room to divide the classes up more, but we are thankful at this time, that we can at least have 2 classes and not try to put all the children 3 to 12 in one class! (that was the case at one time!)
There is much going on this week! Our building plans and permits were approved last week! That means we can start work on the building soon. Tony has various appointments for discipleship classes this week. Also Bible Institute class is Thursday evening. Teddy and I will get back into school. We will be starting week 4. I also will be meeting with a couple ladies this week, along with preparing this coming weeks lessons for the traing class on Saturday.
Thank you for your prayers. God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Saturday, August 9, 2008
A glass of iced tea, anyone?
It has been hot here in Manta! If you were able to drop by and sit in my kitchen these days, I think we would opt for a tall glass of iced tea! Maybe I should change the name of my blog to "A glass of Tea with Joy" :-)
Well, even if things have been hot around here, it hasn't slowed anyone down. The last week, was just as busy, or maybe more so than the week before... and since we had a group here the week before that is saying alot! I will try to give you a little "sample" of our week...
Monday we all got haircuts, and tried to get our cell phones straightened out...didn't happen, and although Tony has made several trips to the phone company and to the bank, there are still some papers to be signed, etc. :-)
Tuesday, more of the same, and we went to Porto Viejo, and had lunch with Tignors. This was the first time we were able to visit with them since we returned, and they are getting ready to leave for their furlough, so it was "now or never". We had a nice afternoon with them. Then that evening, MarÃa José came over and we worked some more on getting the Sunday School material for this quarter ready to be copied. Tony also had a discipleship class.
Wednesday, more of the same, and we tried to meet a new couple from church to have discipleship with them, but that didn't work out... We had prayer meeting at the church in the evening.
Thursday, internet guys were suppose to come and check out our stuff, but they finally called late in the afternoon, and said they weren't going to be able to come until the next day.... More with the bank and cell phones... Tony had Bible Institute Class in the evening. Everyone has been so excited because we finally got the books we needed, and have been waiting on for months! Also we had the opportunity to have lunch with another missionary couple, and really enjoyed that. Teddy had a great time playing with their children!
Yesterday morning the internet guys came and said, everything was fine, and they really didn't know why we kept having problems with the server cutting out... maybe we if called them the next time it happened... In the afternoon, we had some guys come and fumigate our house... we have had an ant invasion, while we were gone... we aren't sure how well it worked, but it did seem some better today! :-) In the early evening, I met with a couple ladies, who are going to be working with me in our Ladies Ministry here at the church. I have divided the ladies up into 3 groups, with each of these ladies as a "group leader". Their main job is to maintain contact with the ladies in the group... check on them when they are absent and pray for them. They will also help with planning activities for the ladies in the future. Please pray for Wilda, Mirian and Aday, as they take on this new responsibility.
Tonight we had the 2nd session in our Teacher Training program. 21 of the 25 showed up and all but 3 had their homework completed! It was such a blessing to see how much time and effort they put into their projects... They were to make something to use with children, along the lines of the "wordless book". It didn't have to be a book, in fact I encouraged them to be creative and come up with different ideas, and they certianly did that. We had worms... hearts... I stuffed clowned, a present, a mobile, little boxes, with a "surprise" inside... bracelets, and many others.
Please pray for these that have made the committment to be part of this program. Pray that they will follow through with what they have started.
In between all the "activities", Teddy and I finished up our 3 week of school. I also worked on the material for the teacher training classes. Tony worked on his messages for the Youth camp, along with outlines to put in a booklet for the campers.
Tomorrow morning, Tony, Teddy and I will be flying to Cuenca, via Quito. Tony will be preaching at a Youth Camp there, I will be helping out as needed, and Teddy will be making new friends. Please pray that we have a safe trip and pray for Tony as he preaches this week. He will be teaching every morning, and preaching every night. We are suppose to fly home on Friday evening.
Please pray for the services at the church here in Manta tomorrow.
Please continue to pray for David and Monica and their two little girls. They took them to the HCJB hospital Voz Andes on Monday. We haven't heard any news since they left. Also please continue to pray for Zonia... she seems to be doing better these days. Pray for continued strength and healing if that is God's will.
Praying God's blessings on you, this coming week!
Joy
Well, even if things have been hot around here, it hasn't slowed anyone down. The last week, was just as busy, or maybe more so than the week before... and since we had a group here the week before that is saying alot! I will try to give you a little "sample" of our week...
Monday we all got haircuts, and tried to get our cell phones straightened out...didn't happen, and although Tony has made several trips to the phone company and to the bank, there are still some papers to be signed, etc. :-)
Tuesday, more of the same, and we went to Porto Viejo, and had lunch with Tignors. This was the first time we were able to visit with them since we returned, and they are getting ready to leave for their furlough, so it was "now or never". We had a nice afternoon with them. Then that evening, MarÃa José came over and we worked some more on getting the Sunday School material for this quarter ready to be copied. Tony also had a discipleship class.
Wednesday, more of the same, and we tried to meet a new couple from church to have discipleship with them, but that didn't work out... We had prayer meeting at the church in the evening.
Thursday, internet guys were suppose to come and check out our stuff, but they finally called late in the afternoon, and said they weren't going to be able to come until the next day.... More with the bank and cell phones... Tony had Bible Institute Class in the evening. Everyone has been so excited because we finally got the books we needed, and have been waiting on for months! Also we had the opportunity to have lunch with another missionary couple, and really enjoyed that. Teddy had a great time playing with their children!
Yesterday morning the internet guys came and said, everything was fine, and they really didn't know why we kept having problems with the server cutting out... maybe we if called them the next time it happened... In the afternoon, we had some guys come and fumigate our house... we have had an ant invasion, while we were gone... we aren't sure how well it worked, but it did seem some better today! :-) In the early evening, I met with a couple ladies, who are going to be working with me in our Ladies Ministry here at the church. I have divided the ladies up into 3 groups, with each of these ladies as a "group leader". Their main job is to maintain contact with the ladies in the group... check on them when they are absent and pray for them. They will also help with planning activities for the ladies in the future. Please pray for Wilda, Mirian and Aday, as they take on this new responsibility.
Tonight we had the 2nd session in our Teacher Training program. 21 of the 25 showed up and all but 3 had their homework completed! It was such a blessing to see how much time and effort they put into their projects... They were to make something to use with children, along the lines of the "wordless book". It didn't have to be a book, in fact I encouraged them to be creative and come up with different ideas, and they certianly did that. We had worms... hearts... I stuffed clowned, a present, a mobile, little boxes, with a "surprise" inside... bracelets, and many others.
Please pray for these that have made the committment to be part of this program. Pray that they will follow through with what they have started.
In between all the "activities", Teddy and I finished up our 3 week of school. I also worked on the material for the teacher training classes. Tony worked on his messages for the Youth camp, along with outlines to put in a booklet for the campers.
Tomorrow morning, Tony, Teddy and I will be flying to Cuenca, via Quito. Tony will be preaching at a Youth Camp there, I will be helping out as needed, and Teddy will be making new friends. Please pray that we have a safe trip and pray for Tony as he preaches this week. He will be teaching every morning, and preaching every night. We are suppose to fly home on Friday evening.
Please pray for the services at the church here in Manta tomorrow.
Please continue to pray for David and Monica and their two little girls. They took them to the HCJB hospital Voz Andes on Monday. We haven't heard any news since they left. Also please continue to pray for Zonia... she seems to be doing better these days. Pray for continued strength and healing if that is God's will.
Praying God's blessings on you, this coming week!
Joy
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Growing...
It is certianly exciting to be a part of a growing, vibrant church. To be surrounded by young Christians who are excited and hungry to learn all they can about God and his word! Last night we had our first class in a 5 week Teacher Training series. There are 25 people participating in this program!!!!! Last night I taught on "Explaining Salvation to Children". What a blessing it was to see so many people excited and wanting to learn all they can inorder to be able to minister to children.
This morning we had 95 in our worship service. There were 5 first time visitors. After the morning service we had a baptism service and Tony baptized 8!!!! Yes we had a GREAT day. What a blessing it was to gather at the beach and to listen to the testimonies of they young Christians. To hear how God was working and changing each one of them.
The group for Capital City Baptist Church, in Michigan returned home yesterday. They were a blessing to Tony and I, but also to our people. They were able to make us 6 tables to use in our children's classes. The teachers were thrilled to have them this morning. They also made 2 cabinets that we will be able to use to store our Sunday School Supplies and they will lock, so we can to to keep things from "walking off". :-)
Please continue to pray for me as I work on the next lessons for the Teacher Training classes. Pray for Tony as he prepares messages for a youth camp he will be preaching at next week in Cuenca. Friday afternoon, I am suppose to meet with 3 of our ladies here, to form a team work together in our Ladies Ministry. Pray for Wilda as she prepares to teach the Ladies Class the next two weeks. Pray that I will have wisdom to approach the Ladies that God has to work in a rotation with me in teaching these Sunday classes.
I have a special request... We got a call this morning from Monica and David Proaño. Both of their daughters are in the hospital. They are about 7 and 5. Their oldest daughter, Michela, has been having some stomach problems for about a week. They were taking care of her at home, and then last night, their youngest, Isabella, somehow was burned with boiling water, and is now suffering with 2nd degree burns on her head and shoulder. Please pray for these precious little girls and for their Mom and Dad.
Thank you for your prayers for us, those that we minister too, and work going on here in Manta.
I pray that you have wonderful week as you serve the Lord!
Joy
This morning we had 95 in our worship service. There were 5 first time visitors. After the morning service we had a baptism service and Tony baptized 8!!!! Yes we had a GREAT day. What a blessing it was to gather at the beach and to listen to the testimonies of they young Christians. To hear how God was working and changing each one of them.
The group for Capital City Baptist Church, in Michigan returned home yesterday. They were a blessing to Tony and I, but also to our people. They were able to make us 6 tables to use in our children's classes. The teachers were thrilled to have them this morning. They also made 2 cabinets that we will be able to use to store our Sunday School Supplies and they will lock, so we can to to keep things from "walking off". :-)
Please continue to pray for me as I work on the next lessons for the Teacher Training classes. Pray for Tony as he prepares messages for a youth camp he will be preaching at next week in Cuenca. Friday afternoon, I am suppose to meet with 3 of our ladies here, to form a team work together in our Ladies Ministry. Pray for Wilda as she prepares to teach the Ladies Class the next two weeks. Pray that I will have wisdom to approach the Ladies that God has to work in a rotation with me in teaching these Sunday classes.
I have a special request... We got a call this morning from Monica and David Proaño. Both of their daughters are in the hospital. They are about 7 and 5. Their oldest daughter, Michela, has been having some stomach problems for about a week. They were taking care of her at home, and then last night, their youngest, Isabella, somehow was burned with boiling water, and is now suffering with 2nd degree burns on her head and shoulder. Please pray for these precious little girls and for their Mom and Dad.
Thank you for your prayers for us, those that we minister too, and work going on here in Manta.
I pray that you have wonderful week as you serve the Lord!
Joy
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Group visiting...
We are excited to have a group visiting us from Capitol City Baptist Church in Lansing, MI.
We had great services this morning, with 111 attending the worship service. 4 people raised their hands that they had prayed to accept Christ. After talking with them, Tony is sure that 3 of them were more for assurance, but still we are excited to see the Lord working in the hearts of those that he has brought our way. We have 4 young people who are planning on being baptized next Sunday.
I would appreciate your prayers for me as I prepare this week for the Teacher's workshops I will be presenting starting next Saturday. There is much to prepare for, and I will also be working the visiting group, so I just need to find the time to get everything done. I'm excited to see what the Lord is going to do this week, through this special team visiting us.
God bless you this week as you serve Him!
Joy
We had great services this morning, with 111 attending the worship service. 4 people raised their hands that they had prayed to accept Christ. After talking with them, Tony is sure that 3 of them were more for assurance, but still we are excited to see the Lord working in the hearts of those that he has brought our way. We have 4 young people who are planning on being baptized next Sunday.
I would appreciate your prayers for me as I prepare this week for the Teacher's workshops I will be presenting starting next Saturday. There is much to prepare for, and I will also be working the visiting group, so I just need to find the time to get everything done. I'm excited to see what the Lord is going to do this week, through this special team visiting us.
God bless you this week as you serve Him!
Joy
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Another week...
Hi Everyone! I pray that you had a great day in God's House today. We had great services. The attendance was down a little bit. We had about 70 in the worship service. I think there were some activities at some of the schools today. They usually have their programs and things on Sunday.
We had 12 people sign up today to participate in a teacher training workshop. It will be about 5, 1 hour meetings, starting Aug. 2. Everyone who participates and finishes the course, will receive a certificate. (that is a big deal here! :-) I appreicate your prayers for me as I work on pulling the material together and teach these classes.
Please be praying for Wilda, Aday and Mirian as they have comitted to work with me in our Ladies Ministry. We are planning to try and meet together once a month or so and pray for the ladies, and also plan activities, etc. It is very important at this stage in our ministry that we start to divide the work up among others. God has blessed us with some very dear people and we appreciate your prayers as we work with them and get them involved in the work here.
Another special request is for Zonia. I have requsted prayer for her a different times. She is a very dear Christian lady who has been battling cancer for several years. It seems that she is nearing the end of this battle. We know that God is able to do anything and selfishly we would ask him to raise her up, but more than anything we know that Zonia wants the Lord to be glorified in her life. She has been such a blessing and testimony for him. I can't tell you how many doctors, nurses and other patients she has met during this struggle that have had the opportunity to come to Christ because of her testimony. Please be praying for her, that the Lord would relieve her pain, that he would give her the grace and strength she needs to run this race. Pray too, for her daughters, Melania and Dina. Pray for her extended family and for our church family during this time.
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
We had 12 people sign up today to participate in a teacher training workshop. It will be about 5, 1 hour meetings, starting Aug. 2. Everyone who participates and finishes the course, will receive a certificate. (that is a big deal here! :-) I appreicate your prayers for me as I work on pulling the material together and teach these classes.
Please be praying for Wilda, Aday and Mirian as they have comitted to work with me in our Ladies Ministry. We are planning to try and meet together once a month or so and pray for the ladies, and also plan activities, etc. It is very important at this stage in our ministry that we start to divide the work up among others. God has blessed us with some very dear people and we appreciate your prayers as we work with them and get them involved in the work here.
Another special request is for Zonia. I have requsted prayer for her a different times. She is a very dear Christian lady who has been battling cancer for several years. It seems that she is nearing the end of this battle. We know that God is able to do anything and selfishly we would ask him to raise her up, but more than anything we know that Zonia wants the Lord to be glorified in her life. She has been such a blessing and testimony for him. I can't tell you how many doctors, nurses and other patients she has met during this struggle that have had the opportunity to come to Christ because of her testimony. Please be praying for her, that the Lord would relieve her pain, that he would give her the grace and strength she needs to run this race. Pray too, for her daughters, Melania and Dina. Pray for her extended family and for our church family during this time.
God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Home at Last...
Sorry for the delay in posting on here. We arrived back in Ecuador on Tuesday night, July 8. Our flights were all on time and everything went very smoothly. All of our luggage arrived with us, and that is a first in several trips, so we were very thankful!
On Wednesday we took the mid-day flight to from Quito to Manta, and arrived here about 1:30. There was a small group waiting to greet us from our church and that was a blessing. We arrived at our house a little after 2:00pm.
The next couple days were spent unpacking and getting things organized here at home. Saturday we went to have lunch with Alfredo and Wilda and had a good visit with them. We also had the opportunity to visit with Zonia, who many of you know has been battling cancer. She is very frail and has not had the opportunity to be out at church from some time, but she was praising the Lord and was such a blessing to be able to spend a little time with her. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.
Sunday was a great day for us at church! Tony and I enjoyed teaching our classes again. It was such a blessing to hear the testimonies from different people of how the Lord had been working in their lives. It was also very humbling to feel so appreciated and missed. Tony did a great job of preaching. After the service they had a meal. So everyone stayed and had a great time of fellowship. There were 4 first time visitors Sunday and at total of 112 in the church service.
Tony will start meeting with a young man this Tuesday evening to have discipleship classes. Please pray for him. Also pray as I work on preparing some material to present a 4 or 5 week teacher training seminar.
Today was the first day of 1st grade for Teddy! I had planned to wait and start next week, but he was very excited about starting and so we went ahead today. I had thought to take it slow this first week, but he pretty much breezed through everything, so I guess we are just diving in! I know it probably sounds really early to most of you, but with the trip back in December/January for Lexi and Jonathan's wedding, it will work out better if we have a head start with school. :-)
Our life is full and we are excited about all the Lord is doing here! Thank you for your prayers for us, for our family and for the ministry the Lord has given us here in Manta.
God Bless you!
Joy
On Wednesday we took the mid-day flight to from Quito to Manta, and arrived here about 1:30. There was a small group waiting to greet us from our church and that was a blessing. We arrived at our house a little after 2:00pm.
The next couple days were spent unpacking and getting things organized here at home. Saturday we went to have lunch with Alfredo and Wilda and had a good visit with them. We also had the opportunity to visit with Zonia, who many of you know has been battling cancer. She is very frail and has not had the opportunity to be out at church from some time, but she was praising the Lord and was such a blessing to be able to spend a little time with her. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.
Sunday was a great day for us at church! Tony and I enjoyed teaching our classes again. It was such a blessing to hear the testimonies from different people of how the Lord had been working in their lives. It was also very humbling to feel so appreciated and missed. Tony did a great job of preaching. After the service they had a meal. So everyone stayed and had a great time of fellowship. There were 4 first time visitors Sunday and at total of 112 in the church service.
Tony will start meeting with a young man this Tuesday evening to have discipleship classes. Please pray for him. Also pray as I work on preparing some material to present a 4 or 5 week teacher training seminar.
Today was the first day of 1st grade for Teddy! I had planned to wait and start next week, but he was very excited about starting and so we went ahead today. I had thought to take it slow this first week, but he pretty much breezed through everything, so I guess we are just diving in! I know it probably sounds really early to most of you, but with the trip back in December/January for Lexi and Jonathan's wedding, it will work out better if we have a head start with school. :-)
Our life is full and we are excited about all the Lord is doing here! Thank you for your prayers for us, for our family and for the ministry the Lord has given us here in Manta.
God Bless you!
Joy
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Time to pack up...
Here we are all on the porch of the cabin we got to stay in last week! In case you don't recognize everyone, here's the order left to right... Shane, Ashley, Lexi, Tony, Joy, Teddy(down front), Jonathan, Mike, Ioan(on the rail), and Mandie.
Ashley's wedding was beautiful, and I will try and post some pictures as soon as I have some!
It is hard to believe that our time in the US is almost over. Ashley's wedding was beautiful. We had a wonderful time having our family all together. It was also a great time to visit with friends and family too.
Last Sunday we went to a church in Asbury, TN. Lexi and Jonathan were here and went with us. We really enjoyed having a few extra days to visit with them after the wedding.
Monday night, we stayed in Pigeon Forge with Tony's Mom, and his sisters and their families. That was a lot of fun too. We drove back to Crossville on Tuesday and met Shane and Ashley here, packing up the van. After lunch they headed back to Springfield.
Now we are just trying to pack up our stuff. You always end up with way more stuff than you can ever take with you, and right now is the normal summer embargo on flights going into Quito, so we are only allowed to take 2 suitcases each at 50 pounds. You can't even pay for overweight or an extra bag... so we are packing, repacking, and packing again. :-)
We really appreciate your prayers for our family, as we are once again, spread out... also thank you for prayers for the work in Manta.
God bless you as you serve him!
Joy
Monday, June 23, 2008
Exciting week starting!
Good Morning! We are looking forward to an exciting week, full of "mini" family reunions and lots of time to make new memories.
Today we are heading to Pigeon Forge, TN. We have graciously been offered the use of a cabin there for the next 3 nights. We are so excited to have a place that our whole family and fit into, with beds for everyone and just the opportunity to have this time to be together. We are looking forward to Mandie's husband Mike arriving tomorrow, and then Lexi and her fiance Jonathan are suppose to arrive Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday we will move over to a hotel in Knoxville. That evening will be the rehearsal and dinner for the wedding, and then of course the big day is Friday.
Thank you for your prayers for us during these days.
Last night, Tony presented our work and preached at a church in Selma, TN. We received an email from Ecuador, expressing their excitement at our upcoming return. They reported that they had 71 in church yesterday. So new people have committed to get involved in the Children's Ministry. We are very thankful for that.
Please continue to pray for the work there in Manta.
God Bless you as you follow him this week!
Joy
Today we are heading to Pigeon Forge, TN. We have graciously been offered the use of a cabin there for the next 3 nights. We are so excited to have a place that our whole family and fit into, with beds for everyone and just the opportunity to have this time to be together. We are looking forward to Mandie's husband Mike arriving tomorrow, and then Lexi and her fiance Jonathan are suppose to arrive Wednesday afternoon.
On Thursday we will move over to a hotel in Knoxville. That evening will be the rehearsal and dinner for the wedding, and then of course the big day is Friday.
Thank you for your prayers for us during these days.
Last night, Tony presented our work and preached at a church in Selma, TN. We received an email from Ecuador, expressing their excitement at our upcoming return. They reported that they had 71 in church yesterday. So new people have committed to get involved in the Children's Ministry. We are very thankful for that.
Please continue to pray for the work there in Manta.
God Bless you as you follow him this week!
Joy
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Snap Shots from our Family Album...
This picture was taken last month, when were had the opportunity to visit some of our friends and churches in Florida. Isn't it neat how the Lord goes way beyond just meeting our "needs" and blesses us with so much more! We certainly didn't "need" to go to Disney World, yet what a neat blessing and a very special memory for Teddy!
We have had many, many such special blessings this furlough! God continues to just amaze us with his blessings.
Here we are on Mother's Day in Springfield, MO. What a joy to be able to be with Ashley, Lexi and Teddy along with our future "sons", Shane and Jonathan! Probably the best gift I received that day, was the "surprise" arrival of Lexi and Jonathan!
What a special time to be able to be with Ashley on her graduation from Baptist Bible College! She has worked so hard for this day, and we are so very proud of her! We were able to share the day with my parents, Shane and his parents, dear friends, Scott and Rebecca Carlson, and Ashley's "Uncle" Jim and "Aunt" Sharon Smith from Ecuador!
May 25, in the afternoon, I had the special treat of attending a Bridal Shower for Ashley, hosted by Shane's family! For a Mom who is usually a continent away, this was an unexpected pleasure.
Another "treat" for Teddy was getting to visit Superman's "hometown" of Metropolis! How many of you can say that you have been to Metropolis?! What fun to be a little boy! :-)
On June 5, we were able to welcome our daughter, Mandie and our grandson, Ioan, to the the US! This was the first time Tony had seen Ioan! What an incredible blessing it has been to have these last days with them! I have to admit that one of our favorite roles from now on will be that of "Nana and Papa"!
It has been such a great blessing to travel around the US and be able to visit with many of you! Thank you so much for your prayers for us, for our family and for the ministry God has given us in Manta!
Joy
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Nana and Papa...
Tony and I are enjoying this new role in our life. It has been such fun getting to know our grandson. What a sweetie he is! We have also enjoyed having time with Mandie and Ashley.
This week we were at the Faith Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio. We have enjoyed a great Sunday. This morning, we were in the Singles class and the Teens. Then we were in the beginning of the worship service, and after Tony introduced our DVD and we showed that, we headed to the Children's Church. We really enjoyed each opportunity to share about Ecuador and our ministry. This evening Tony shared a short testimony.
Tomorrow we will be heading over to Lancaster County, PA and will be visiting some really special friends. ( I know I say that all the time, but they are all pretty special! :-) ) Next Sunday we will be in two churches in NJ.
Thank you for your prayers for Mandie and Ioan as they traveled. Everything went very well with their trip. Please continue to pray for us as we make these last trips. Pray for Mike as he finishes up in Korea. He will be traveling to the US on June 21st.
Please continue to pray for the work in Manta. They have found another apartment and terrace that they will be moving into this week. It is close to where we have been meeting, so that is an answer to prayer. They wrote that they had 92 last week, with several visitors and 89 this morning. Also Cecila wrote earlier this week, that 3 of her sisters accepted Christ as their Savior! What a blessing!
God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
This week we were at the Faith Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio. We have enjoyed a great Sunday. This morning, we were in the Singles class and the Teens. Then we were in the beginning of the worship service, and after Tony introduced our DVD and we showed that, we headed to the Children's Church. We really enjoyed each opportunity to share about Ecuador and our ministry. This evening Tony shared a short testimony.
Tomorrow we will be heading over to Lancaster County, PA and will be visiting some really special friends. ( I know I say that all the time, but they are all pretty special! :-) ) Next Sunday we will be in two churches in NJ.
Thank you for your prayers for Mandie and Ioan as they traveled. Everything went very well with their trip. Please continue to pray for us as we make these last trips. Pray for Mike as he finishes up in Korea. He will be traveling to the US on June 21st.
Please continue to pray for the work in Manta. They have found another apartment and terrace that they will be moving into this week. It is close to where we have been meeting, so that is an answer to prayer. They wrote that they had 92 last week, with several visitors and 89 this morning. Also Cecila wrote earlier this week, that 3 of her sisters accepted Christ as their Savior! What a blessing!
God bless you as you serve Him this week!
Joy
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Another week...
We had a week "off", this past Sunday. It was nice to go to church and just be there to worship and praise the Lord with everyone else. Since we didn't have any commitments we drove over to Knoxville on Saturday, and spent the afternoon and evening with our family there. It was good to have time with them. Sunday morning, we went to Southside Baptist Church, and then in the evening we visited Victory Baptist Church in Maryville.
Today we celebrated a special event in our family. This was Teddy's "Welcome to our Family" day. It is hard to believe that he has already been with us 5 years! He is growing up and has definitely become a very special part of our family. We are so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with him! He was asking us today if grown-ups had a "Welcome to our Family" day... he had noticed that no one else in our family got to celebrate this special day. So we talked a little bit about adoption again, how he didn't join our family on his birthday, and that he was special. Later he was telling his grandpa that he got to celebrate "welcome to our family day", because he wasn't born on his birthday! LOL I don't think we have it all figured out just yet, but it will come.
Please continue to pray for our church in Manta. They are in the process of relocating to another apartment. Pray that the people will remain faithful and not get discouraged by all the testing they have gone through.
Pray for Zonia, the doctors have said, she is in the last stages of cancer. We know that only God can heal her, if that is his will.
Pray for Mandie and Ioan as they fly to the US. They will be leaving Korea around 10:00pm EST, Wednesday and arriving in Atlanta, about 11:00am EST on Thursday. Pray for safety and a good flight. Pray that Ioan can sleep on the plane, that there is an empty seat next to Mandie.
Pray for Mike, as he finishes up in Korea and gets ready to come to the US later in the month.
Pray for Ashley and Shane as their wedding is approaching soon.
Pray for Lexi, she is now working 2 jobs, and also making plans for her wedding in January.
Have a wonderful week, serving the Lord!
Joy
Today we celebrated a special event in our family. This was Teddy's "Welcome to our Family" day. It is hard to believe that he has already been with us 5 years! He is growing up and has definitely become a very special part of our family. We are so thankful to the Lord for blessing us with him! He was asking us today if grown-ups had a "Welcome to our Family" day... he had noticed that no one else in our family got to celebrate this special day. So we talked a little bit about adoption again, how he didn't join our family on his birthday, and that he was special. Later he was telling his grandpa that he got to celebrate "welcome to our family day", because he wasn't born on his birthday! LOL I don't think we have it all figured out just yet, but it will come.
Please continue to pray for our church in Manta. They are in the process of relocating to another apartment. Pray that the people will remain faithful and not get discouraged by all the testing they have gone through.
Pray for Zonia, the doctors have said, she is in the last stages of cancer. We know that only God can heal her, if that is his will.
Pray for Mandie and Ioan as they fly to the US. They will be leaving Korea around 10:00pm EST, Wednesday and arriving in Atlanta, about 11:00am EST on Thursday. Pray for safety and a good flight. Pray that Ioan can sleep on the plane, that there is an empty seat next to Mandie.
Pray for Mike, as he finishes up in Korea and gets ready to come to the US later in the month.
Pray for Ashley and Shane as their wedding is approaching soon.
Pray for Lexi, she is now working 2 jobs, and also making plans for her wedding in January.
Have a wonderful week, serving the Lord!
Joy
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
We arrived back at my parents house in Crossville, TN today. God was very good to us as we traveled all around the last 17 days. We have been blessed everywhere we went. It was so great to visit with family and friends. To meet new friends.
This past Sunday we enjoyed being at Blue Ridge Baptist Temple in Kansas City. It was great to see some of the people that had made the trip to Ecuador last summer. We also had the privilege of meeting the Taylor family. (They are Lexi's fiancee, Jonathan's family) I also had the opportunity to attend a bridal shower for Ashley and Shane that his family gave them. That was a lot of fun!
We are now looking forward to Mandie and baby Ioan arriving in the US next Thursday! Nana and Papa are getting very excited!
There are about 6 weeks left before we return to Ecuador. We have 5 more churches scheduled during this trip. Please pray as we travel during these next weeks. Also be praying as we prepare for Ashley and Shane's wedding the end of June. We are very thankful that all the details have come together.
The church in Manta, is in the process of looking for a new meeting place. Please be praying with us that God would lead them to the right place.
God Bless You!
Joy
This past Sunday we enjoyed being at Blue Ridge Baptist Temple in Kansas City. It was great to see some of the people that had made the trip to Ecuador last summer. We also had the privilege of meeting the Taylor family. (They are Lexi's fiancee, Jonathan's family) I also had the opportunity to attend a bridal shower for Ashley and Shane that his family gave them. That was a lot of fun!
We are now looking forward to Mandie and baby Ioan arriving in the US next Thursday! Nana and Papa are getting very excited!
There are about 6 weeks left before we return to Ecuador. We have 5 more churches scheduled during this trip. Please pray as we travel during these next weeks. Also be praying as we prepare for Ashley and Shane's wedding the end of June. We are very thankful that all the details have come together.
The church in Manta, is in the process of looking for a new meeting place. Please be praying with us that God would lead them to the right place.
God Bless You!
Joy
Friday, May 23, 2008
Special Prayer Request
Hello everyone! We are in Kansas, visiting with our family.
Over the last couple weeks, we have heard from the church in Manta, that the owner of the apartment and terrace that we rent for the church has been giving them fits. Last Sunday morning after the service, he, along with some of his relatives wanted to meet with some of the men in the church. The short of it all, is that he wants us out...
We are very thankful to the Lord for giving us such a great place to meet for the last 3 1/2 years. We are also very pleased with the attitude of the church. While the owner is not doing right, they have a wonderful attitude and have agreed with Tony that they want to do everything right, and not do anything that would reflect bad on the churches testimony. At this point they are checking out for some places to meet. Pray for them, that the Lord would lead them to just the right place. They are checking into hotels that might have a "conference room" or something like that, where they would just meet on Sundays and then meet in homes during the week.
All of this makes it even more important for us to raise the money and return in July ready to get started on the new building. At this time we are hoping to be able to get back and get a storage room, and bathrooms built, then we hope to buy a large tent and start meeting on the property, while we are in the process of building the main building.
Thank you for your prayers for the ministry in Manta, and for our family as we travel.
God Bless you as you serve Him!
Joy
Over the last couple weeks, we have heard from the church in Manta, that the owner of the apartment and terrace that we rent for the church has been giving them fits. Last Sunday morning after the service, he, along with some of his relatives wanted to meet with some of the men in the church. The short of it all, is that he wants us out...
We are very thankful to the Lord for giving us such a great place to meet for the last 3 1/2 years. We are also very pleased with the attitude of the church. While the owner is not doing right, they have a wonderful attitude and have agreed with Tony that they want to do everything right, and not do anything that would reflect bad on the churches testimony. At this point they are checking out for some places to meet. Pray for them, that the Lord would lead them to just the right place. They are checking into hotels that might have a "conference room" or something like that, where they would just meet on Sundays and then meet in homes during the week.
All of this makes it even more important for us to raise the money and return in July ready to get started on the new building. At this time we are hoping to be able to get back and get a storage room, and bathrooms built, then we hope to buy a large tent and start meeting on the property, while we are in the process of building the main building.
Thank you for your prayers for the ministry in Manta, and for our family as we travel.
God Bless you as you serve Him!
Joy
Thursday, May 15, 2008
This September Tony and I will have been missionaries 20 years. You would think in all that time that one thing we would be used to is "goodbyes". I can't even begin to tell you how many "good-byes" we have said. When we left for the field, there were all the "good-byes" to our families and friends in the States. Then since we've been in Ecuador, we have said "good-bye" to many family members who have gone on to be with the Lord. A few years ago, we started saying "good-bye" to our daughters as they came back to the US for college.
I'm sure those are all "good-byes" you might think of, but we have another set of "good-byes". You see, people are always coming and going from the Mission Field. So you make friends, and then God moves them and you are saying "good-bye" to them again. These are people that because you are living in a foreign country become even closer to you than your own family. Your children call them aunts and uncles, and the truth is that they feel closer to them than they have ever felt to their "real" relatives.
We have some friends that we spent many holidays with... She and I would bake together at Christmas... We took turns hosting Easter Dinner. About 10 years ago, the Lord moved them back to the US. Every Christmas, I remember how much fun we had baking together. My girls still call them "Uncle and Aunt", and we try to pass their way for a day or two every time we are back in the US.
Today our middle daughter Ashley graduated from college. It was a wonderful service. We have enjoyed a great week... time visiting with her and seeing many people during the week, that we haven't seen in years and years. Ashley will be getting married at the end of June. I am very happy for her and the young man that the Lord has brought into her life. It will help some to know that she is not alone, when we say our next "good-bye" but I know it still won't be easy...
As I type this I am reminded that one day we will not have to say anymore "good-byes"! What a wonderful time that will be! Until then, would you please pray for us and for your other missionaries, as they say "good-bye."
God Bless you!
Joy
I'm sure those are all "good-byes" you might think of, but we have another set of "good-byes". You see, people are always coming and going from the Mission Field. So you make friends, and then God moves them and you are saying "good-bye" to them again. These are people that because you are living in a foreign country become even closer to you than your own family. Your children call them aunts and uncles, and the truth is that they feel closer to them than they have ever felt to their "real" relatives.
We have some friends that we spent many holidays with... She and I would bake together at Christmas... We took turns hosting Easter Dinner. About 10 years ago, the Lord moved them back to the US. Every Christmas, I remember how much fun we had baking together. My girls still call them "Uncle and Aunt", and we try to pass their way for a day or two every time we are back in the US.
Today our middle daughter Ashley graduated from college. It was a wonderful service. We have enjoyed a great week... time visiting with her and seeing many people during the week, that we haven't seen in years and years. Ashley will be getting married at the end of June. I am very happy for her and the young man that the Lord has brought into her life. It will help some to know that she is not alone, when we say our next "good-bye" but I know it still won't be easy...
As I type this I am reminded that one day we will not have to say anymore "good-byes"! What a wonderful time that will be! Until then, would you please pray for us and for your other missionaries, as they say "good-bye."
God Bless you!
Joy
Monday, May 12, 2008
Springfield, MO
We arrived in Springfield, MO on Saturday afternoon. We have enjoyed spending time with our daughter, Ashley. Sunday we went to church with her and Shane, and I got another special surprise... Lexi and Jonathan were there! So we had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day. After church we went out to lunch and then everyone came back to Ashley's apartment for alittle while. Lexi and Jonathan had to drive back to Kansas City, in the afternoon, but was a very special "gift" to have time with them too.
I have spent the day helping Ashley get alittle more settled into the "new" apartment. That has been fun!
This evening was the first night of "Fellowship Week" here at the college. There will be special services tomorrow evening, and Wednesday evening. Also some meetings in the mornings. Graduation is Thursday morning. We are enjoying this time with Ashley and Shane.
The news we are hearing from Ecuador is mostly good. The landlord at the apartment we rent for the church, has been giving them some trouble, but over all things are going well.
Praying you have a wonderful week!
Joy
I have spent the day helping Ashley get alittle more settled into the "new" apartment. That has been fun!
This evening was the first night of "Fellowship Week" here at the college. There will be special services tomorrow evening, and Wednesday evening. Also some meetings in the mornings. Graduation is Thursday morning. We are enjoying this time with Ashley and Shane.
The news we are hearing from Ecuador is mostly good. The landlord at the apartment we rent for the church, has been giving them some trouble, but over all things are going well.
Praying you have a wonderful week!
Joy
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Webster's says a friend is "someone whom one knows and likes." That seems to fall so short of the description I would give to Tim and Debbie Gunter, friends from Bible College. After getting married just a month a part, having each of our children within a few months of each other (except for the last couple!) both working on staffs at churches in the same city early in our ministries, and then God called Tony and I to Ecuador, and Tim and Debbie to Florida to start a church. From that time, Tim as been one of our "supporting pastors".
We have enjoyed a few days of just "hanging out" and fellowshiping with them. They also made it possible for us to take Teddy to Disney World's Magic Kingdom. What a "magical" day that was! We had so much fun seeing it all through Teddy's eyes!
This morning we participated in the service here at "Crown Point Baptist Church". God is blessing and we had a great time getting to know some of the people that God has allowed Tim and Debbie to minister to here.
This evening we are heading back over to Altamonte Springs, where we will have the opportunity to present our work to the "Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church". We have so many friends there! That is where Tony and I worked right out of Bible College. They took us in, and became our "family!" Loving us and ministering to us. We have many special memories from those days.
Tomorrow morning we will be packing up our car and heading back north. Our plans at this point are to stop in Tennessee at my parents for a few days... unpack, do laundry, re-pack... then we suppose to be heading to Springfield, MO. There we will be spending Mother's Day with our daughter, Ashley, and have the opportunity to be present for her graduation from Baptist Bible College.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family as we travel around the US, and also for the work in Manta. We continue to hear great updates from the church there. God is blessing! The young people are becoming more involved. The ladies are enjoying fellowship time together, and we have 5 men who made the trip to Santo Domingo last week to attend a Men's Retreat.
Have a wonderful week, as you serve the Lord where he has placed you!
God Bless!
Joy
We have enjoyed a few days of just "hanging out" and fellowshiping with them. They also made it possible for us to take Teddy to Disney World's Magic Kingdom. What a "magical" day that was! We had so much fun seeing it all through Teddy's eyes!
This morning we participated in the service here at "Crown Point Baptist Church". God is blessing and we had a great time getting to know some of the people that God has allowed Tim and Debbie to minister to here.
This evening we are heading back over to Altamonte Springs, where we will have the opportunity to present our work to the "Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church". We have so many friends there! That is where Tony and I worked right out of Bible College. They took us in, and became our "family!" Loving us and ministering to us. We have many special memories from those days.
Tomorrow morning we will be packing up our car and heading back north. Our plans at this point are to stop in Tennessee at my parents for a few days... unpack, do laundry, re-pack... then we suppose to be heading to Springfield, MO. There we will be spending Mother's Day with our daughter, Ashley, and have the opportunity to be present for her graduation from Baptist Bible College.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our family as we travel around the US, and also for the work in Manta. We continue to hear great updates from the church there. God is blessing! The young people are becoming more involved. The ladies are enjoying fellowship time together, and we have 5 men who made the trip to Santo Domingo last week to attend a Men's Retreat.
Have a wonderful week, as you serve the Lord where he has placed you!
God Bless!
Joy
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Hello from sunny Florida!
We have covered many miles since last I posted. The Lord has been so good to us and blessed us with safety and provided everything we have needed. We arrived in central Florida last Friday. We enjoyed spending a day with Tony's Dad and his family, complete with watching Tony's little brother's little league game!
This week we have been in Altamonte Springs enjoying the Missions House at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. It has been such a blessing to just rest for a few days, and enjoy getting together with many of our friends here. Sunday morning we were at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. Sunday evening, Tony made the drive over to Melbourn and was at Calvary Baptist Church. Tomorrow we will be driving over to Port Charlotte, and then Thursday - Sunday we will be visiting our good friends, Tim and Debbie Gunter and will be in their church on Sunday morning, and back at Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church on Sunday evening.
From here we head back north, with a quick stop in Tennessee to wash clothes, re-pack and then we will be heading to Springfield, MO to attend Fellowship Week there and Ashley's graduation on Thursday morning, May 15. From there we will be in Fort Worth, TX, Dodge City, KS, and Kansas City, MO, before we head back east.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our ministry. God is blessing. The news from Manta is very good. The church is doing well, and everyone is remaining faithful and fulfilling their responsibilities. Please continue to pray with us that the Lord would provide the money necessasry to get the building program started this summer.
God bless you as you serve Him!
Joy
This week we have been in Altamonte Springs enjoying the Missions House at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. It has been such a blessing to just rest for a few days, and enjoy getting together with many of our friends here. Sunday morning we were at Palm Springs Drive Baptist church. Sunday evening, Tony made the drive over to Melbourn and was at Calvary Baptist Church. Tomorrow we will be driving over to Port Charlotte, and then Thursday - Sunday we will be visiting our good friends, Tim and Debbie Gunter and will be in their church on Sunday morning, and back at Palm Springs Drive Baptist Church on Sunday evening.
From here we head back north, with a quick stop in Tennessee to wash clothes, re-pack and then we will be heading to Springfield, MO to attend Fellowship Week there and Ashley's graduation on Thursday morning, May 15. From there we will be in Fort Worth, TX, Dodge City, KS, and Kansas City, MO, before we head back east.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our ministry. God is blessing. The news from Manta is very good. The church is doing well, and everyone is remaining faithful and fulfilling their responsibilities. Please continue to pray with us that the Lord would provide the money necessasry to get the building program started this summer.
God bless you as you serve Him!
Joy
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
On the road again...
Since last I posted we have visited 3 churches in Michigan, returned back to Tennessee. Tony flew up to Albany and had the opportunity to share with two of our supporting churches in that area. He returned on Monday, April 7th, and we headed to Texas on Tuesday, April 8th!
We enjoyed the opportunity to be in the Missions Conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Gatesville, TX. We knew Pastor and Mrs. Bogan from our days at Bible College and then they had been on deputation going to the field of Germany when we were working on staff at the church in Michigan. It has been years since we have seen them, and it was just a blessing to have a chance to renew our friendship with them! Another special blessing was that the other missionary in the conference was my cousin, Jeremy Gresham from Iceland and my parents were there, as my Dad was the main speaker! :-)
Yesterday morning after sharing breakfast with everyone, we headed up to Kansas, and last night surprised our youngest daughter, Lexi. That was lots of fun! We stopped on the way, to spend a couple hours with Tony's Aunt and Uncle and to see his Grandmother, arriving here about 7:30, just after Lexi had gotten home from work. We are looking forward to having a few days with her, before heading back toward Tennessee on Thursday. Tony will be traveling up to New England on Saturday. He will be at the Heritage Park Baptist Church in Burlington, MA. on Sunday morning and then at Grace Baptist Church in Portland, Maine on Sunday night. He will be flying back to Tennessee on Monday. Then we head toward Florida on Wednesday where we will be visiting churches for a couple weeks.
Thank you so much for your prayers as we travel. God has been so good to us. We have added 1 new church and had 1 church double our support! Many have made promises for our Building Program in Manta. We heard from the architech there a couple weeks ago, and things are progressing. The plans are finished and he is ready to submit them to the planning board for the proper permits! God has supplied the money necessary for everything we have needed to pay up to this point. It is so wonderful that we have a God who does everything right on time!
We continue to hear good reports from the church in Manta. Everyone continues to fulfill their commitments and remain faithful. The attendance as stayed close to the 90 mark, and we are thankful for that. I would ask you to continue to pray for the men who are leading the church during our absence. Pray too, for Darwin Moreira. He has been sick with throat and ear infections. There is a possibility that he will have to have an operation. Pray too, for Jose Gallegos and his family. Mrs. Gallegos passed away last week. She had a long battle with cancer. Thank the Lord that Roberto and Lupe were able to talk with her before she passed away and she accepted Christ!
Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry in Manta. God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
We enjoyed the opportunity to be in the Missions Conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Gatesville, TX. We knew Pastor and Mrs. Bogan from our days at Bible College and then they had been on deputation going to the field of Germany when we were working on staff at the church in Michigan. It has been years since we have seen them, and it was just a blessing to have a chance to renew our friendship with them! Another special blessing was that the other missionary in the conference was my cousin, Jeremy Gresham from Iceland and my parents were there, as my Dad was the main speaker! :-)
Yesterday morning after sharing breakfast with everyone, we headed up to Kansas, and last night surprised our youngest daughter, Lexi. That was lots of fun! We stopped on the way, to spend a couple hours with Tony's Aunt and Uncle and to see his Grandmother, arriving here about 7:30, just after Lexi had gotten home from work. We are looking forward to having a few days with her, before heading back toward Tennessee on Thursday. Tony will be traveling up to New England on Saturday. He will be at the Heritage Park Baptist Church in Burlington, MA. on Sunday morning and then at Grace Baptist Church in Portland, Maine on Sunday night. He will be flying back to Tennessee on Monday. Then we head toward Florida on Wednesday where we will be visiting churches for a couple weeks.
Thank you so much for your prayers as we travel. God has been so good to us. We have added 1 new church and had 1 church double our support! Many have made promises for our Building Program in Manta. We heard from the architech there a couple weeks ago, and things are progressing. The plans are finished and he is ready to submit them to the planning board for the proper permits! God has supplied the money necessary for everything we have needed to pay up to this point. It is so wonderful that we have a God who does everything right on time!
We continue to hear good reports from the church in Manta. Everyone continues to fulfill their commitments and remain faithful. The attendance as stayed close to the 90 mark, and we are thankful for that. I would ask you to continue to pray for the men who are leading the church during our absence. Pray too, for Darwin Moreira. He has been sick with throat and ear infections. There is a possibility that he will have to have an operation. Pray too, for Jose Gallegos and his family. Mrs. Gallegos passed away last week. She had a long battle with cancer. Thank the Lord that Roberto and Lupe were able to talk with her before she passed away and she accepted Christ!
Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry in Manta. God bless you as you serve him this week!
Joy
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
I pray that each of you had a wonderful Easter! We enjoyed the week before Easter visiting with our middle daughter, Ashley. Teddy was thrilled to have one of his big sisters around to "play" with him!
The week of course just flew by! Isn't that always the way it is? You anticipate and plan and look forward to something for so long, and then before you know it the time has come and gone. We packed a lot into the time though and had a wonderful visit!
The news we are hearing from Ecuador is very good. We had 11 teens go to youth camp and 2 accepted Christ as their saviour while there. One girl surrendered her life to be a missionary and all of them came back excited and pumped up to serve the Lord! What a blessing!
Tony preached Sunday evening at the Gospel Baptist Tabernacle in Crossville. We are thankful for the opportunity that he had to share about the work in Ecuador there.
Today we have headed up to Michigan, where we will be at our home church, Great Lakes Baptist Temple, in Flint, tomorrow evening, and then in 2 other churches on Sunday and a different church the following Wednesday. Please be praying for safety as we travel and that the Lord would soften hearts to the need in Ecuador for this new building.
God bless you as you follow him this week!
Joy
The week of course just flew by! Isn't that always the way it is? You anticipate and plan and look forward to something for so long, and then before you know it the time has come and gone. We packed a lot into the time though and had a wonderful visit!
The news we are hearing from Ecuador is very good. We had 11 teens go to youth camp and 2 accepted Christ as their saviour while there. One girl surrendered her life to be a missionary and all of them came back excited and pumped up to serve the Lord! What a blessing!
Tony preached Sunday evening at the Gospel Baptist Tabernacle in Crossville. We are thankful for the opportunity that he had to share about the work in Ecuador there.
Today we have headed up to Michigan, where we will be at our home church, Great Lakes Baptist Temple, in Flint, tomorrow evening, and then in 2 other churches on Sunday and a different church the following Wednesday. Please be praying for safety as we travel and that the Lord would soften hearts to the need in Ecuador for this new building.
God bless you as you follow him this week!
Joy
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